Uniform product standards by CCI lauded

Islamabad: TheNetwork for Consumer Protection has lauded the decision of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) to have uniform product standards for whole country, making Pakistan competitive in the growing global e-commerce.

TheNetwork was referring to an official statement released after the conclusion of 44th meeting of the CCI which said: “In order to further improve ease of doing business and harmonization of quality and standards across the country, it was decided that provinces will notify harmonized standards set by Pakistan Standard & Quality Control Authority (PSQCA) by repealing their own standards. It was also agreed that harmonization of standards, standardized labelling and certification marks logo would remain exclusive domain of PSQCA.”

The CCI meeting also decided to establish a permanent Secretariat of Council of Common Interests as required by the Constitution.

Nadeem Iqbal, CEO of TheNetwork said that that this is a big step in the harmonization of federal and provincial standards, thus ending regulatory confusion prevailing since the constitutional devolution in 2010. However, he cautioned, the work hasn’t ended here as now national standards also need to be upgraded to international standards to make country competitive in the fast-growing e-commerce world.

“This decision will have huge positive impact on the food fortification regulation as all four provinces have made food regulations bodies many of whom have their own standards. Now all provinces are required to amend their respective laws in the provincial assemblies as per CCI decision, a process it is hoped will be completed on urgent basis,” Nadeem opined.